634 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



Uses : — It is regarded by the Hindus as stomachic, carmin- 

 ative and astringent ; useful in dyspepsia and diarrhoea. It 

 is thought to be very cooling, and on that account forms a part 

 of most prescriptions for gonorrhoea (Dymock). 



Like Kdla zira, it is also used as a lactagogue. 



Sanskrit authors recommend a poultice made of cumin seeds 

 with the addition of honey, salt and clarified butter to be applied 

 externally for scorpion-bites (Dutt). 



585. Daucus Garota, Linn, h.f.b.i., ii. 718, 

 Roxb. 270. 



Sans. : — Garjara. 



Veim. : — Gajar (IT. and B.) ; Gajjara, Manjal-mullangi 

 (Tarn.) ; Pita-kanda (Tel.) ; Mor muj, Bui muj, Kach (Kash- 

 mir) ; Zardak (Pushtu) ; Petaigagar (Sind). 



Habitat : — Kashmir and the Western Himalaya ; cultivated 

 elsewhere in India. 



Annual or biennial herbs, hispid. Stem 1-4 (in the Himalaya, 

 often 6ft.) Leaves 2-3-pinnate, pinnatifid segments, narrow- 

 lanceolate. Bracteoles many, 3-frd and simple. Umbels com- 

 pound, rays usually many ; outer rays connivent in fruit. 

 Calyx-teeth small or obsolete. Petals obovate, emarginate, 

 white, outer often radiant. Fruit elliptic, join. ; bristles on the 

 secondary ridges glistening white, connate at the base only of 

 the primary ridges, small or sessile, sub-glochidiate. Carpophore 

 undivided. Vittae solitary under the secondary ridges. 



Uses : — The seeds are considered to be a nervine tonic. 

 Boiled with honey and fermented, they produce a spirituous 

 liquor. A decoction of the leaves and seeds is said to be used 

 by natives as a stimulant to the uterus during parturition. 

 The roots are made into a marmalade and considered refrigerant 

 (Emerson.) 



In the Punjab, the seeds are considered aphrodisiac, and 

 given in uterine pain (Stewart). 



